Birch earned Rs 22cr in 2 years, ED finds evidence of illegal foreign remittances

Panaji: The ED, Panaji, investigated the Birch by Romeo Lane case, where 25 persons died in a fire incident on Dec 6, and found evidence relating to foreign remittances routed through group entities and examining the possibility of contraventions of relevant laws. ED said that during the last two financial years, the nightclub generated Rs 22 crore in revenue.ED conducted searches at nine premises located in Goa, New Delhi, and Gurugram under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, including the premises of the sarpanch and the secretary of Arpora-Nagao panchayat, in connection with the probe against Saurabh Luthra and others. ED said that the searches formed part of an investigation into alleged money-laundering activities linked to the owners of the Birch nightclub.The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Goa police, which contain certain scheduled offences under the PMLA. The searches revealed serious irregularities in statutory compliance, including the procurement of licences on the basis of forged documents and the continued operation of commercial activities despite the absence of mandatory approvals from competent authorities.“This revenue is, prima facie, suspected to constitute proceeds of crime, as the club was functioning without the necessary statutory licences and on the basis of forged no objection certificates/licences from various departments,” the ED said.ED added that “evidence relating to foreign remittances routed through group entities was also unearthed during the searches, and possible contraventions of relevant laws are being examined”.ED said that the investigation revealed that funds amounting to crores of rupees, generated from the illegal operation of the establishment, were diverted to personal bank accounts of individuals as well as to accounts of other group entities.“Various incriminating documents and digital devices relevant to the investigation were recovered and seized during the searches. In addition, bank accounts of persons and entities suspected to be involved in holding Proceeds of crime were frozen under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002,” ED said.ED said that the investigation is also focused on examining any possible corruption angle and subsequent laundering of proceeds of crime by other persons involved.